The Interior Design Odyssey Continues:
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The Interior Design Odyssey Continues:
The rental and housing markets shape a lot of the ideas and advice available about interior design. People who move often and rent aren't looking at making permanent changes to their spaces. People who own have houses not apartments. So, advice to make permanent changes to apartments is very rare.
I hoping this is just a US thing and maybe by looking abroad I can find some more useful ideas.
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The Interior Design Odyssey Continues:
The rental and housing markets shape a lot of the ideas and advice available about interior design. People who move often and rent aren't looking at making permanent changes to their spaces. People who own have houses not apartments. So, advice to make permanent changes to apartments is very rare.
I hoping this is just a US thing and maybe by looking abroad I can find some more useful ideas.
Should we have a conversation about how younger generations are never getting the chance to customize their homes because they can't buy, and it's not just because housing prices are high, it's also because the places younger people want to live generally are not for sale?
Moving is fun, but it also sucks. It seems reasonable that if you don't like moving one ought to be able to just... stay somewhere forever.
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Should we have a conversation about how younger generations are never getting the chance to customize their homes because they can't buy, and it's not just because housing prices are high, it's also because the places younger people want to live generally are not for sale?
Moving is fun, but it also sucks. It seems reasonable that if you don't like moving one ought to be able to just... stay somewhere forever.
I guess this is a "downside" to condo/coop ownership. When you get ready to make big changes to your home no one knows what you are talking about and none of the advice makes any sense.
"Consider adding X to your kitchen island" (ya'll have islands and oceans in there? What is going on?)
"This furniture will look great in many different sized apartments when you move." (That's nice but I will never move.)
"In your laundry room..." (What is that?)
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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Should we have a conversation about how younger generations are never getting the chance to customize their homes because they can't buy, and it's not just because housing prices are high, it's also because the places younger people want to live generally are not for sale?
Moving is fun, but it also sucks. It seems reasonable that if you don't like moving one ought to be able to just... stay somewhere forever.
@futurebird Re: Interior design for renters: https://youtube.com/@alexandragater
Her channel is the primary one I've seen that regularly shows how to customize your space as a renter.
But, yes, not being able to customize your living space is deeply distressing and demoralizing. We are still animals and we need to feel a certain "ownership" of our nest. There is a cruelty to the renting experience that goes unacknowledged.
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@futurebird Re: Interior design for renters: https://youtube.com/@alexandragater
Her channel is the primary one I've seen that regularly shows how to customize your space as a renter.
But, yes, not being able to customize your living space is deeply distressing and demoralizing. We are still animals and we need to feel a certain "ownership" of our nest. There is a cruelty to the renting experience that goes unacknowledged.
I find a lot of advice for renters. The problem is advice for apartments that are NOT rentals.
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Should we have a conversation about how younger generations are never getting the chance to customize their homes because they can't buy, and it's not just because housing prices are high, it's also because the places younger people want to live generally are not for sale?
Moving is fun, but it also sucks. It seems reasonable that if you don't like moving one ought to be able to just... stay somewhere forever.
@futurebird Define "customizing" here? I've lived most of my life in rented flats, and even when I moved into the first flat with my then girlfriend at 22, I thought I had plenty of opportunity for making this my own place.. (But then, I'm living in Germany, habits and things are different here)
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@futurebird Re: Interior design for renters: https://youtube.com/@alexandragater
Her channel is the primary one I've seen that regularly shows how to customize your space as a renter.
But, yes, not being able to customize your living space is deeply distressing and demoralizing. We are still animals and we need to feel a certain "ownership" of our nest. There is a cruelty to the renting experience that goes unacknowledged.
I think it's reasonable to not expect to make deep changes to a space that you will not live in for more than 5 years. But at some point? The white walls, the inability to install a shelf or change things like tile is grating.
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@futurebird Re: Interior design for renters: https://youtube.com/@alexandragater
Her channel is the primary one I've seen that regularly shows how to customize your space as a renter.
But, yes, not being able to customize your living space is deeply distressing and demoralizing. We are still animals and we need to feel a certain "ownership" of our nest. There is a cruelty to the renting experience that goes unacknowledged.
@futurebird The studio fix series on Alexandra's channel covers smaller spaces and the types of furniture that can make them feel more functional.
I keep hoping to see more folks tackle this kind of interior design because it expands on the technical work that happened with tiny houses (expanding small living spaces) but brings it to the renter space where you just can't do as many things with the structure itself.
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@futurebird Define "customizing" here? I've lived most of my life in rented flats, and even when I moved into the first flat with my then girlfriend at 22, I thought I had plenty of opportunity for making this my own place.. (But then, I'm living in Germany, habits and things are different here)
Customizing:
Changing the floor, installing built in bookshelves, changing the tile, major kitchen appliances etc.
Not really something that can be done in a rental.
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@futurebird The studio fix series on Alexandra's channel covers smaller spaces and the types of furniture that can make them feel more functional.
I keep hoping to see more folks tackle this kind of interior design because it expands on the technical work that happened with tiny houses (expanding small living spaces) but brings it to the renter space where you just can't do as many things with the structure itself.
I should hit up the tiny house stuff again. There might be some usable tips in there... though they tend to get bogged down on things like electrical and heating ... And they don't care about accessibility much at all which annoys me a little. (though jungle gym housing is very fun)
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I find a lot of advice for renters. The problem is advice for apartments that are NOT rentals.
@futurebird @clarablackink btw: I find myself for the first time in my life in an apartment that I actually own, and am still figuring a lot of stuff out. INCLUDING dealing with the HOA equivalent. (In which I somehow ended up being a member of the board, so I can nip the most egregious things in the bud. So people are allowed to put solar panels on their balconies now without any undue hassle)
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@futurebird @clarablackink btw: I find myself for the first time in my life in an apartment that I actually own, and am still figuring a lot of stuff out. INCLUDING dealing with the HOA equivalent. (In which I somehow ended up being a member of the board, so I can nip the most egregious things in the bud. So people are allowed to put solar panels on their balconies now without any undue hassle)
Being on the co-op board is important community service and the only way to keep busy bodies at bay.
I used to be on mine and probably am due to show up and make everyone uncomfortable again. (We want solar too. And for the common spaces to stay open more. )
I suppose I'm a type of busy body in a way. But if not me then who?
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I guess this is a "downside" to condo/coop ownership. When you get ready to make big changes to your home no one knows what you are talking about and none of the advice makes any sense.
"Consider adding X to your kitchen island" (ya'll have islands and oceans in there? What is going on?)
"This furniture will look great in many different sized apartments when you move." (That's nice but I will never move.)
"In your laundry room..." (What is that?)
@futurebird Never Too Small is an Australian YT channel that focuses on apartment design. Simple Dwelling often has profiles on apartments too. Living Big in Tiny House focuses on Tiny Homes, but has great ideas for small space configurations. I used to read a lot of Apartment Therapy, but haven't for a while now, so I don't know what they are like post-AI.
NB. Having recently gone through a kitchen/bathroom renovation in an apartment, agree that it was very hard to get advice, or even find a company willing to do it. (We did eventually find an amazing company that were pretty much flawless, and specialised in apartment renos - but unless you are in Australia, probably not terribly helpful.) -
The Interior Design Odyssey Continues:
The rental and housing markets shape a lot of the ideas and advice available about interior design. People who move often and rent aren't looking at making permanent changes to their spaces. People who own have houses not apartments. So, advice to make permanent changes to apartments is very rare.
I hoping this is just a US thing and maybe by looking abroad I can find some more useful ideas.
My favorite thing about owning has been the ability to go hard with customizations. Here is the desk I made in a little unused nook next to the kitchen:
George B (@gbargoud@pixelfed.social)
Old picture, new account. Here's the desk I built into my apartment that I built and finished weeks before I pretty much entirely stopped working from home. Above it are 4 shelves, one has a computer built into it and the other 3 are used for books that are too big to fit on the regular bookshelves and below it is firewood storage. I still need to figure out how to protect the desktop from dust, it's still just sitting in the open right now almost a year and a half after those pictures were taken.
Pixelfed (pixelfed.social)
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My favorite thing about owning has been the ability to go hard with customizations. Here is the desk I made in a little unused nook next to the kitchen:
George B (@gbargoud@pixelfed.social)
Old picture, new account. Here's the desk I built into my apartment that I built and finished weeks before I pretty much entirely stopped working from home. Above it are 4 shelves, one has a computer built into it and the other 3 are used for books that are too big to fit on the regular bookshelves and below it is firewood storage. I still need to figure out how to protect the desktop from dust, it's still just sitting in the open right now almost a year and a half after those pictures were taken.
Pixelfed (pixelfed.social)
That's a nice quality of plywood. I love the build. You might try sanding it a bit and then doing layers of minwax wipe on poly.
Wipe on poly can allow you to slowly make the surface more glossy and it will be easier to clean and less prone to staining. (right now some red kool-aid could ruin your day. )
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That's a nice quality of plywood. I love the build. You might try sanding it a bit and then doing layers of minwax wipe on poly.
Wipe on poly can allow you to slowly make the surface more glossy and it will be easier to clean and less prone to staining. (right now some red kool-aid could ruin your day. )
If you scroll through to the last picture you'll see that I painted it white to match the walls.
I finished that like a week before my kid was born so I am very aware of what stains it could get
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If you scroll through to the last picture you'll see that I painted it white to match the walls.
I finished that like a week before my kid was born so I am very aware of what stains it could get
I can only see the first photo.
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I can only see the first photo.
There are 5 on the post but you need to scroll through to see the others if it opened on pixelfed's site instead of directly in your mastodon app
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There are 5 on the post but you need to scroll through to see the others if it opened on pixelfed's site instead of directly in your mastodon app
There is no way to scroll?
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There is no way to scroll?
I have it on a phone so it's swiping on the pictures, there might be arrows on the edge if you click there
It's clearly a very Instagram coded UI and there's a reason I only really made 2 posts there before mostly abandoning the account
Note the 5 dots on the bottom of the picture that hint at the existence of more
